Florida Cops Caught Pre-Planning and Celebrating Gruesome K-9 Attack Against Unarmed Teen

Hugh Wharton | December 29, 2015

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37% of North Port’s K-9 apprehensions end with a bite.

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On July 16th, 2012, Justin Lemay’s mother called the North Port Police Department to alert them that her son may be suicidal. “My daughter found a noose hanging in the garage,” she said. “I’m afraid he might try to hurt himself.” But before Lemay could even talk to police, K-9 unit officers viciously attacked him with their service animal.

Before even arriving on the scene of what was a suicidal, unarmed teen, officer Keith Bush texted Michael Dietz, new to the unit, prior to reaching Lemay’s home. Bush texted, “COME GET UR BITE.” Bush was recorded minutes later messaging Dietz, “IM GONNA TAKE UR BITE IF U DONT HURRY UP.”

Officers Dietz and Bush entered the home, and found Justin Lemay hiding inside a trash can. Lemay recounted what happened next:

I remember hitting the ground on my hands to brace myself from falling, and I looked up at them, and I went to say ‘OK, OK,’ and the guy sicced the dog on me as soon as I started to talk. I remember [the dog’s] mouth coming toward me and latching onto my face. He literally drug me out of the trash can.

Fellow officer Officer William Carter texted “CONGRATS” on behalf of Dietz’ first bite with the unit as Lemay was being taken to the emergency room.

“I couldn’t even eat for a week after that because my face was so swollen,” Lemay related in a recent interview. After the encounter, fellow officer Brandon McHale asked about Lemay’s injuries, but displays little concern for the victim:

“YOUR BITE OR (Dietz’s)?” McHale inquired.

“I LET (Dietz) HAVE IT,” Bush replied.

“NICE, HOW BAD?” McHale asked.

“BAD,” Bush wrote. “FACE AND BACK.”

“SKIN GRAFT BAD?” McHale asked.

“NO,” Bush wrote.

“COULDA BEEN WORSE THEN, HE SHOULD HAVE COMPLIED,” McHale said, ending the conversation.

North Port Police Chief Kevin Vespia, along with other police staff, found that the actions against Lemay fell within department policy and did not warrant further investigation.

Officer Dietz was found guilty of domestic battery just three years later, in 2015.

Lemay’s mauling is only one incident in a pattern of behavior by the North Port K-9 unit, and his case is just part of a long history of brutality and lack of accountability.

An investigation by the Herald-Tribune found that North Port’s police canine unit recorded at least 34 bites from 2010 through 2014 — more bites than recorded by the canine units of nearby Sarasota, Bradenton, Palmetto, Venice and Punta Gorda combined during that same period.

Their investigation also found that the bite ratio of North Port’s K-9 unit was higher than federal standards allow. A bite ratio measures the number of total bites against the number of apprehensions, and 30 percent is the maximum law enforcement agencies use to investigate handler misconduct. North Port’s unit measured a bite ratio of 37 percent.

The case of Justin Lemay also defies two separate policies set by the International Association of Chiefs of Police for K-9 units, which states that they should not be used to engage “the mentally disturbed if no other crime is involved.” The policy also states that “extra care should be taken and alternatives to the deployment of a canine should be considered in the case of juvenile suspects.”

North Port Police Chief Kevin Vespia declined two interview requests with the Herald-Tribune.